


taken care of business

by CaptainJimothyCarter



Series: Tumblr Prompt Fics [67]
Category: Agent Carter (TV), Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Asked Fic, Crack fic not to be taken seriously, F/M, Ficlet, Fluff and Crack, I Don't Even Know, Idiots in Love, Pre-Serum Steve Rogers, Prompt Fic, Sam Wilson Is a Good Bro, Steggy - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-23
Updated: 2021-01-23
Packaged: 2021-03-15 01:48:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,909
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28930524
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaptainJimothyCarter/pseuds/CaptainJimothyCarter
Summary: This just isn't even a  fic or an idea, it's just *something*.OrSteve gets stabbed while protecting Peggy at her bar and Peggy learns the truth of their feelings for each other.
Relationships: Peggy Carter/Steve Rogers
Series: Tumblr Prompt Fics [67]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1952281
Comments: 4
Kudos: 17





	taken care of business

**Author's Note:**

> I shouldn't even post this one because imo its just bleh and so not good but here we are.

" _That was incredibly stupid of you,”_ Peggy sighed out of her nose, all the while glaring down at the blonde curled up (to the best of his ability) inside of the wheelchair.  _ “Not only was it incredibly stupid - what-what if you had gotten hurt, Steve? Worst than that! What if you had bled out and died in my arms?! What if-” _

She only stopped her rambling, well-deserved rebuke when a car pulled up and Sam swiftly walked around to help load the scrawny bastard inside of the car. 

“I don’t think he’s listening to you,” Sam pointed out as they managed to buckle the guy inside. “Steve’s out like a light. The hell did they give him?”

“Enough pain meds to shut him up,” Peggy grumbled, walking around so she could sit in the passenger seat. Her arms folded across her chest as Sam got back behind the wheel and he started to slowly ease them back into traffic.

“You know...when you called to tell me Steve was stabbed outside of your bar, I wasn’t worried.” Peggy shot him a look and Sam’s shoulders shrugged. “Look, I was it’s just...Steve gets into these fights every day. Every other day. A stabbing? I thought it was just...well, it wasn’t real. That you or he were pulling my leg. I’m glad to see he’s okay. The doc say anything useful?”

“Plenty useful, I just don’t know if Steve heard any of it.” She sighed and rubbed a hand over her temples. Sam didn’t miss the show she glanced back to the slumped over blonde. “I was so worried when he started to...bleed out. I didn’t think. I used the damn trashcan lid he had and beat the guy senseless, stole his wallet, and took Steve to the hospital.”

Sam almost stopped the car for that one, making Peggy flinch. Her hand reached back to steady Steve and at least their driver had the decency to look apologetic. “I’m sorry - you stole the guy who stabbed Steve’s wallet?”

“Yes, and?” She raised her brow at him. “It was foolish and I wasn’t thinking, but I wanted some information on him to give to the police. I was more thinking of getting Steve to the hospital. Thankfully the doctors said it was a shallow wound and just required a few stitches and a hell of a lot of pain medication. He wasn’t even complaining of being in pain, just...just apologizing over and over again.”

“And the ranting earlier?”

“Me letting steam out since I have no idiot to punch.”

Sam sighed just as loud as she did, drumming his fingers onto the wheel. “Do I need to say it?”

“Say what?!”

“Carter, you ain’t stupid.” His eyes set on hers as they pulled into the parking spot outside of her apartment. “Steve might’ve been stabbed, but it was to protect you. Or the building. Or who knows, a three-legged kitten. Who’s to say why those idiots were fighting him. Either way, the kid  _ likes  _ you. He apologized because he knew it upset you. Don’t...don’t let this go and upset you even worst, okay? Steve is a brat sometimes, unmistakeably stubborn, but when he likes someone or is even friends with them, then he has a fierce protection streak.

That being said…” Sam shrugged and let a small smile fall on his lips. “He does like you.”

Christ, as if she didn’t know. Or worst, as if she didn’t like him enough as it was. 

She knew Steve was stubborn. No matter how many times she turned Steve away from her bar, not because he was annoying patrons or playing White Knight, but just so he could go get some sleep or take care of himself, he always found a reason to stay. They’d met at her bar months ago, when he stumbled in from the rain, claimed in some stumbling over the manner of his own words that he liked her bar. He’d found excuses to come back, despite he’d said he couldn’t drink. He stayed to protect innocent college girls from creepers, to make sure no one lingered around the bar to hurt her. To fill in for waitresses, chefs, even help her clean at night.

And by the end of the night, when they needed to go home, he always hesitated to say something. Once or twice, Peggy found herself so close to just grabbing him and kissing him. Instead, he’d stumbled out something about a good night before running away.

Just to come back the next day. 

“Don’t I know it,” Peggy sighed. “Frankly, I like him too. I just…” She shrugged slightly. “I should just ask him out already. Put an end to this dancing around. I don’t know what’s stopping me. My own reserve? Worry for...dragging him into the bar life? Fuck, he got stabbed because of me!”

There came the crashing guilt, the guilt and pain she’s put off for hours. That she was too focused on holding Steve’s hand, ignoring her own anxiety over the whole manner. Her fist slammed down onto her thigh and she found Sam’s arms tightly around her.

Damn this bastard and his ability to read her. Damn him for giving good hugs.

“I know, I know,” he purred, rubbing up and down Peggy’s arm as she cried into his shoulder. “Well, now you can ask him out once he’s not hyped up on some pain meds. Come on, I’ll help you get him inside.”

Sam was a good man, a good friend. She didn’t know what she’d do without him. 

“Are you sure you don’t mind taking care of the bar for a few days?” Peggy asked him after Steve was tucked into her bed, a glass of water nearby. 

“I don’t mind. I could do with the experience,” Sam mused, leaning into the doorway. “I promise I won’t let Clint drink all the beer.”

“Or Bucky,” she pointed out.

Sam’s lips broke out into a grin, pulling her up for another hug. “Take care of the kid, alright? Stubborn bastard.”

\--

Sam was right. She’d danced around Steve for far too long and why? She wasn’t oblivious to her feelings for him. She liked him. Christ, in the right circumstances, she loved him. She loved to watch his eyes light up when they got to discussing art or even politics. She loved how opinionated he could be. How fierce he was in his opinions. How righteous he was. How he fought for the little people.

She loved how caring he was, paying more than enough food to give out to the homeless people nearby despite she did that out of her own pocket. She loved how he took care of old people and helped them with their groceries. 

Christ, she was in love with Steve and denied it the entire time. 

Maybe...maybe she denied it because she didn’t want him in this life. She sunk her whole savings into this bar, ran away from home, took the first job as a waitress in this bar, and kept it up and going until the owner signed it over. Now it was one of the best gay bars in town. It was friendly and open and while it was classified as a bar, she knew Clint and Angie next door ran the bakery and cafe to stay open just as late for those who didn’t like the bar scene.

She loved how Steve tried to be in both places at once to help.

Christ, she loved him.

It was Steve’s soft grunting that made her look up from pouring over the police files and the doctor’s notes. She turned around from the counter and frowned at the scrawny thing, in one of Sam’s borrowed shirts, hobbling to her. His face was flushed, with freckles standing out. He was covered in sweat and smelled like the hospital as he reached her.

She was stunned as he kissed her lips and Peggy sunk into it. 

Until it struck her. He was high on pain meds and possibly wouldn’t remember this.

“Steven?” She breathed, gently eased him off of her. “Are you okay? Why are you out of bed? Did you-”

“I love you,” Steve interrupted her. His face turned to the color of a tomato at this point. “I love you, Peggy. I-I heard you and Sam talking in the car. I love you and I”m sorry for everything. I’m sorry that I didn’t tell you before. I’m sorry that I didn’t just come inside when you told me. I-”

He was silenced by her kissing, kept to a bare minimum given the fact he was still holding onto his side.

“How out of it on meds are you?” She asked, touching his face.

“I ain’t. I told you, I got a high pain tolerance, especially to drugs. They took the edge off is all.” His face was covered in sweat and he looked green as if to prove a point as he shrugged. “Pegs…”

“No,” she breathed, shaking her head. “Let’s get you cleaned up first, then we can talk.”

It took some maneuvering to get Steve back to bed and using a cool washcloth to clean the sweat off of his body. She inspected the sound to be sure no stitches were torn and breathed a sigh of relief when they weren’t. She retreated to the kitchen, just to bring back leftovers heated up for him to slowly eat.

“You worried me,” she told him, sitting on edge of the bed. “Worried isn’t even the word I can use right now. You...christ, Steven, I was terrified! I thought I was going to faint when you started to bleed out! I was so terrified that he-he had killed you! What made you do that?!”

“I heard him and his buddies threatening to kill you because you’re…” He stopped and swallowed the bite of fried rice. “Because you ran the gay bar. Let’s just put it that way. I didn’t think, that’s the problem and I think everyone in my life will agree I ain’t never had a thought in my life. I just...saw red. I know you can protect yourself but all I could do was...protect you.”

At least Steve looked almost ashamed but that’s not what Peggy wanted. She didn’t want him to be ashamed or guilty. She wanted him to just understand how close she came to losing him and how terrified that made him feel. 

“Steven…” She saw the way his shoulders squared in what he thought was a lecture to come, she was lectured out. “Look at me, darling, by no means am I...happy about this. I don’t need saving, but I am  _ thankful  _ for what you did. Beyond means that I can express. I am also so glad that you’re alive and okay and…” She took the empty containers and set them to the side, crawling up his frame so she could lay on his good side.

“And,” she continued. “And...I want...to go further...about  _ us.  _ We don’t have to talk about it now because we’re both utterly exhausted, but I’d...like to discuss it in the future.”

“Oh good,” Steve breathed, his cheeks flushing a bright pink. He tucked himself into her side, too tired to continue this topic of how wrong and right he was. “Because I like spending time with you.”


End file.
